Low lethality impact munitions are available in a number of configurations and calibers. These munitions may be designed for use against multiple subjects (area effect), or a single subject (point control). Area effect munitions are comprised of loaded munition platforms which contain multiple sub-munitions that may be discharged into a group of two or more subjects (i.e., human targets). Point control munitions are normally loaded with a single sub-munition. These latter munitions are typically designed to be more accurate and allow for a more precise single target acquisition and deployment.
The design of low lethality impact sub-munitions ranges from basic wooden batons and rubber balls to advanced drag and spin stabilized designs. Accuracy of the sub-munitions is dependent on their caliber and intended use. Advanced large caliber point control type sub-munitions rely on spin stabilization for increased accuracy. These munitions are designed to interface with rifling features in the large caliber launcher barrels to cause the sub-munitions to spin up when discharged. While this type of stabilization yields a round with exceptional accuracy and broader range performance, the large caliber launchers are not as common as smooth bore launchers which do not have features to induce the spinning of sub-munitions.
Smooth bore low lethality impact munitions can be broken into two different types, stabilized and non-stabilized. Non-stabilized munitions do not utilize any design features to aid in their accuracy or performance. These types of munitions are mainly used in area effect deployments. Stabilized smooth bore munitions typically are designed to use either fin or drag stabilization. Fin stabilized sub-munitions are designed with fin features that induce spinning and/or are intended to stabilize their flight path. Drag stabilized munitions are designed with features that trail behind the sub-munition main body during flight to produce a drag effect which in turn stabilizes the sub-munitions.
In the case of such drag stabilized or “bean bag” sub-munitions made of a suitable fabric material filled with shot or pellets, it is generally known to coat the fabric material with a payload material such as irritant or inflammatory chemicals or marking agents or dyes by shaking the sub-munitions in a bag containing the payload material or other similar means to form a dispersion of the payload material on the fabric so that some of the payload material is transferred to the target on impact of the sub-munitions therewith.
There are several problems in using this method to incorporate a payload into drag stabilized or bean bag sub-munitions. First, coating the entire sub-munitions with payload material is not a very efficient way to deliver the payload material to the target because much of the payload material on the surface of the sub-munitions is not transferred to the target. Also some of the payload material is lost during firing of the munitions and flight of the sub-munitions to the target. Thus more payload material must be used to achieve an acceptable delivery amount to, the target.